Process of manufacturing lime and carbonic acid.



No. 670,047. PaentedMar. I9, IQDI.v

' I. M. WESTMAN.

PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING LIME AND CABBONIC ACID.

(Application led June 6, 1900.)-

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No. 670,047. Patentedy Mar. 19, |901.

G. M. WESTMAN.

PROCESS UFMANUFAGTURING LIME AND CARBONIC ACID.

(Application led June 6, 1900.)

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NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAF M. WESTMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING I IIVI. AND CARBONIO ACID.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,047, dated March 19, 1901.

Original application iiled January 6 1900, Serial No. 615. Divided and this application led J une 6, 1900. Serial No. 19,269. (No specimens.)

To a/ZZ whom, it 7er/ty concern.:

Be it known that I, GUSTAF M. WnsrMAN, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Process for the Manufacture of Lime and Carbonio Acid, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, this being a division of the application for Letters Patent, filed January 6, 1900, Serial No. 615.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved process for manufacturing lime and carbonic acid in such a simple and economical manner that both the lime and the carbonio acid are almost immediately in condition for the market.

The process consists, essentially, in passing a mixture of highly-heated carbonio acid and steam into and up through a column of limestone to expel the carbonic acid contained in the limestone and to convert the latter into calcium oxid, then charging the expelled carbonic acid with water to cause the heat of the carbonio acid to convert the water into steam, and thereby reduce its temperature, then conducting a portion of the cooled carbonio acid charged with steam into a regenerator to be highly heated therein and used in turn for expelling carbonic acid from the lime, as above specified, and finally drawing oi the calcium oxid from the base of the column.

In order to carry this process into effect, I prefer the apparatus shown and described in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure lis a sectional side elevation of the improvement on the line 1 1 in Fig. 2 and with parts in elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with parts in section, and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the three-way valve for passing the carbonic acid from the blower to either of the regenerators.

The apparatus shown in the drawings is provided with a shaft-furnace A, having at its upper end a suitable filling device B for charging the said shaft-furnace with lime- `furnace A is hopper-shaped, and the bottom opening is normally closed by a drop-door C, which can be conveniently opened from time to time to discharge the lime, (OaO.) Into the shaft-furnace A, directly above the hopper-bottom, enters a pipe D, connected by valved branch pipes E E' with regenerators F F', respectively, of any approved construction and adapted to be alternately heated either by burning oil or prod acer-gases. The regenerators serve to highly heat the mixture of carbonio acid and steam, as hereinafter more fully described and for the purpose stated.

From the upper end of the furnace A, directly below the filling device B, leads a discharge-pipe G for carrying theexpelled carbonio acid from the shaft-furnace A, and in the said pipe G is arranged a water-charging device H, preferably in the form ,of a rose, connected by a pipe I with a suitable watersupply, so that water in spray form passes from the rose into the expelled carbonio acid to be immediately converted into steam and to reduce the temperature of the carbonio acid. A portion of the carbonio acid cooled and charged with steam passes by an extension-pipe G' to the bell J of agas-holderJ of any approved construction, suitable weights J 2 being carried on chains J3, connected with said bell, so as to regulate the pressure inthe holder, and consequently regulate the pressure of the gas in the shaft-furnace A.

From the pipe G, directly below the watercharging device H, leads a pipe G2 to a blower K of any approved construction, and the outlet-pipe K' of the blower K is adapted to be connected with either of the pipes L L', leading into the lower ends of the regenerators F F', respectively, a valve N under the control ofthe operator serving to connect the pipe K' with either of the said pipes' L or L'.

The operation is as follows: When the shaftfurnace A is filled with limestone and a mixture of carbonio acid and steam is contained in the holderJ and the generator F has been heated and the branch pipe E is opened and the other pipe E' is closed and the valve N, connecting the pipe K' with the pipe L and V IOO -ofthe mixture to the desired degree.

the blower K, is setin motion, then a mixture of carbonic acid and steam is drawn from the holder J by Way of the pipe G and the pipe G2 and forced through the pipes K and L into the regenerator F, to be heated therein to a high degree, and then passes through the pipes E and D into the lower end of the shaftfurnace A to pass into and up through the column of limestone contained in the said shaft-furnace A. The highly-heated mixture of carbonic acid and steam is the medium for heating the carbonate or limestone contained in the shaft-furnace A and expelling the carbonic acid contained in the limestone and for quickly converting the said limestone into lime, which accumulates on the hopper-bottom of the shaft-furnace and is discharged therefrom from time to time through the door C. from the upper end of the furnaceAinto the pipe G and to the spraying device H to encounter the Water and convert the same into steam, the latter mixing with the carbonic acid to form a mixture of carbonic acid and steam. Part of lthis mixture may be stored in the holder'or receiver J and part is drawn into the blower K to be forced through the pipes K and L into and through the Aregenerator F to be heated and again passed through the limestone contained in the furnace A, for the purpose above mentioned. While the regenerator F is in use, the other regenerator F is heated, as previously explained, and when the mixture of carbonic acid and steam passing through the regenerator F can no longer beheated in the said regenerator to the desired degree then the valve N is shifted to connect the pipe KV with the pipe L to pass ator F', and thereby insure proper heating The valve in the branch pipe E' is then. opened, so as to-pass the highly-heated mixture of carbonic acid and steam into and through the limestone in the furnace A for the purpose previously described. While the regenerator F is cut out, as mentioned, it can be reheated in the usual manner to be ready for use as soon as the heat of the regenerator F From the foregoing it is evident that the water is converted into steam at very little expense, as the heat of the expelled carbonic acid is utilized for the purpose, and by thesteam mixing with the expelled carbonic acid the tension of the latter is reduced, so that the carbonic acid or the steam separately.

By cooling the carbonic acid by the steam The expelled carbonic acid passesit is evident that the blower K is not affected by excessive heat, and consequently its proper Working is insured at all times. By reducing Ithe tension of the carbonic-acid gas by the steam it is not necessary to reheat the mixture in the regenerator above 1,00()o centigrade, and the mixture of this degree of heat is sufficient to properly decompose the limestone in the. furnace and to expel the carbonic-acid gas, as previously described. The steam itself does not affect the limestone or the lime at the high temperature mentioned to form hydrate ofA lime in the furnace.

By increasing or decreasing the Weights J2 on the holder the pressure in the holder and that in the furnace A may be reduced or increased to preventtoo-high ortoo-low pressure in the furnace.

It isfunderstood that the tensionof the carl bonic acidv is reduced by the steam in proportion to the amount of steam in the carbonic acid, and as the amount of- Watercanbe regulated by suitable valves it is evident that-the l reduction of temperature is-under the control y of the operator. .it is evident-that more carbonic. acid is pro- As the operation continues duced in the shaft-furnaceA thanis utilized fas a medium for expelling carbonic acid for thecontin nous process described, and the porc tion of carbonic acid not so utilized for heating and expelling purposes isY readily stored in the holder J With its` proportionate amount of steam and can be Withdrawn therefrom l from time to time. into suitable. vessels to be i ready for the market,it being expressly understood that none of the carbonic. acid is lost,

` and the steam readily condenses in the holder, so as to free the carbonic acid from the steam, the carbonic acid through the other regenerand thereby' leave the. carbonic acid in a pure It-isevident from. the foregoingl that the lprocess is continuous and the gas expelled from the limestone. in the shaft-furnace is medium for expelling the carbonic-acid gas from thelimestone and at the same time forming the lime.

has been used up for heating the mixture of I carbonic acid and steam.

Highly-heated steam alone maybe used;

Q but I prefer thev mixture of steam and carbonic acid, as the production of the steam is ,at a low cost, and the carbonic acid has a higher heat capacity than the steam, and hence the same volume of carbonic acid can icarry more heat into the limestone than the steam.

the mixture of carbonic acid and steam after Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The improved continuous process of treating limestone With a. highly-heated mixture IIO steam with theexpelied carbonio acid, to form In testimony whereof I have signed my a mixture of carbonio acid and steam, and name to this specification in the presence of then reheating the mixture and passing it two subscribing Witnesses.

through the limestone, whereby lime and eal- GUSTAF M. WESTMAN. bonic acid of maximum purity are obtained, Witnesses: the entire amount; of carbonio acid evolved THEO. G. HOSTER,

and employed being recovered, as specified. JNO. M. RITTER. 

